Jump in Time
by TellerOfStories100
Summary: A boy sent back in time to prevent the destruction of the human race. He was meant to stay hidden to complete his job, but things are never that easy. A Buffy/Angel story, various parings mostly B/A, but not for a while. Review Review Review please :D
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

In the near future…..

The night was dark and silent; the skies clear with the moon full and high, almost reaching its apex for the night. Down below stood three individuals hidden within the streets of a long forgotten Los Angeles. Gone were the bright lights and big crowds. The buildings that once stood tall were now left broken and bleeding. All that remained were the scars of a war battled and lost, along with broken buildings came, broken dreams, broken spirits and broken lives.

Of the three, two were women, the eldest, Willow Rosenberg, a witch, and arguably one of the most powerful in the world and Dawn Summers, former Key. Both showed visible signs of what war could do to someone who fought the good fight. Both women were aged from not only time but also the years of both war and the fight for survival. Worn down, battered and bruised, these two were the last remains of the once unstoppable Scooby Gang, Angel Investigations and the Slayer Organisation. The lone male of the group was no younger than 16. He was an attractive young man with dark hair, dark eyes, with a sun kissed complexion. Under normal circumstances boys his age would have the world at their feet, their life ahead of them. But these were not normal times those days were long gone. Now each day was a fight for survival, a fight for freedom. The spark of life that should be present within his eyes were instead filled with the hard realisation that unless their plan was successful, the future, not only for themselves, but for the human race would not be a bright one.

Hidden in the shadows, Willow was slowly making preparations for a spell, not just any spell, but one that would hopefully change the world and stop the end of days. "Are you nearly ready?" asked the lone male of the three. "Yeah Wills, times nearly running out" Dawn stated as she was pacing back and forth in the alleyway. They were hiding in the back streets behind the Hyperion Hotel, the former headquarters for the now defunct Angel Investigation, and the current hideout for the lone three soldiers. "Almost ready Dawnie, just need to set the circle and mix the herbs then we are good to go" Willow stated. Slowly she put the herbs in a golden bowl. Gone was the magic addict scared to cast a simple spell, now stood a goddess willing to make the necessary sacrifices needed to ensure that their future was one worth living for. She motioned over to Dawn and the boy, indicating the spell was ready to begin. This was not a simple textbook spell, sending someone back in time required everything to be timed and performed perfectly for it to be successful. If one small mistake were to happen the effects of the spell would result in dire consequences for the person being sent back.

"Okay, so lets go over this one more time. I start the spell, in the sacred circle, with a chant, once the moon reaches its apex I light the herbs, Dawn then you'll…"

"Then I'll use this really pretty knife on myself, cut myself, get some blood magic happening, you chant again, portal opens, he jumps in" indicating to the boy "he goes back to 2006, then we're good to go yeah I know, we've gone over this already" Dawn sighed

"I know sweetie, but its just a precaution we don't want anything wrong happening, this is a pretty powerful spell and I need to keep my concentration in check, especially with the Trackers being on high alert with it being a blood moon tonight"  
"Quick question" the teenaged boy asked. Both Willow and Dawn looked over "Why does a blood moon warrant an increase in Trackers, I mean what's the big deal?"

Willow expecting the question answered hastily "Simple, when a full blood moon occurs, it acts like a shield or barrier it basically blocks any trace of the magic's performed, leaving no traces of the magic left behind, it also amplifies any magic happening during that time, especially during its highest point. Because of this the other side need to be put on high alert to make sure no one, i.e. us the good guys, don't perform any magic that could destroy this little paradise they've created for themselves"

"Right, sorry for asking. Let's just get this over and done with"

"I'm sorry, didn't mean for that to come out that way, I'm just a bit high strung right now. Ok? Let's go"

It became quiet, all three understanding the gravity of their situation. Willow went within the circle and kneeled closed her eyes and began chanting.

"_Cronos, god of time, heed my call, open the gates of both time and space"_

She then began to chant fast paced in Latin, the air around them became thick with the stench of magic's, as Willow kept chanting when suddenly a burst of energy erupted and her eyes flew open, gone were the soft brown colour, replaced instead with a white so pure it almost looked as if her eyes were glowing. As she finished her chant, the moon reached its highest point, she quickly ignited the herbs to flames. Dawn grabbed the knife and began slicing through her arm, going deep enough to get a steady flow of blood released. As her blood began to flow into the bowl, Willow began her chant once again, however the lone boy began to notice something amiss. From what he understood only a few drops of Dawn's blood we're needed for the spell to be effective, not a whole river, which was flowing fast out of her arm. And Willow looked like she was being eaten from the inside out, the power of the spell taking its tole on her body. As he began to realise the lengths to which they were willing to go to, thunder struck, sending them all flying and the portal opened. "What's happening? What are you two doing?" he basically screamed as he ran back to the two women. These two ladies were not only his friends but also the only family he had left and to see them give their lives for their cause, added to the seriousness of their plan. Dawn laid crumbling to the ground, barely conscious, with Willow quickly following suit.

"It was the only way" coughed Willow

"We knew if we told you the price of opening the portal you would never have agreed to do it" Dawn said.

"Your fucking right I wouldn't agree to it, I can't watch you two die, you need to fight, to live!" tears were slowly making their way down his cheeks as he began to sob heavily.

"We're dead anyway, this isn't living, this way we have a chance to make things right! If you succeed we won't be dead, the timeline will be fixed. Go back change the past, save our future" and with her last breaths Willow gazed lovingly at the boy she came to consider her son and slowly closed her eyes.

"Willow? Willow?" he screamed as he was shaking her lifeless body "Don't leave me!"

"Liam! You need to go the portal wont stay open much longer, when I die, the portal closes with it you need to go!" Dawn was losing blood quick, she knew she only had a limited amount of time left "If you don't go everything we just did would have been for nothing, you're the only one who can do this" slowly she put her hands into her left pocket and took out a long silver necklace with two silver rings attached to it, indicating Liam to come closer she clutched his hands in her own and gave the necklace to him "Here take this, its was your parents, Willow enchanted them so that you'll be protected when you go back, they wont be able to identify you, smell you,basically trace who you are. It will help you finish the job" she began to cough, blood coming out of her mouth. "Go"

Taking the necklace and putting it on, the boy, Liam, composed himself as best he could and began walking towards the portal, looking back, he said, "I love you both, I'll make sure this won't be our future". Smiling Dawn softly spoke, "I know". With that he went to the portal and disappeared and Dawn disappeared to, not back in time, but into the afterlife.


	2. Chapter 1

**I own nothing from the buffyverse, except for original characters**

**Chapter 1**

Buffy Summers was The Slayer, the only girl in the world blessed with the power to fight the vampires and demons of the world, or well at least she used to be. Now she was just Buffy Summers, she would always be The Slayer, the best, the one to go to, but now she had a life outside of demons and darkness.

For the first time in a long time she felt like her life was finally getting back on track away from slaying. It had been three years since she and her army of slayers had closed down the Sunnydale Hellmouth and since then her life had changed drastically. It took her a while to organise the new slayer organisation. Not only did her and the Scoobies need to track down all the newly activated slayers, they had to find any remaining watchers, train both the new slayers and watchers and send teams of slayers across the world to continue the mission.

With the revelation of all these new slayers, Buffy thought this would increase her slayer responsibilities, however the opposite happened. She was still head of the organisation, with help from the Scooby gang, and whenever some apocalyptic threat was on the horizon they were there front and centre, but now with all these new slayers across the world, she found out she could finally start to think about herself.

While she was still The Slayer, she found she now had more time to focus on herself for a change instead of the rest of the world. This allowed her to go back to college and get her degree in psychology. Deciding to move back to Los Angeles, she found a job once again as a high school councillor. The pay was enough to support her and it gave her time to focus on her personal life, she finally had one.

The school week was finally over, she spent the day dealing with breakups and makeups, kids unsure of their future and if they were living up to their parents expectation. Simply put it was never a dull day in a school full of dramatic, hormonal and temperamental teenagers and she was happy to finally be able to go home.

She lived by herself in an apartment block 15 minutes away from her school, which was great for her. Given her profession where she wasn't making the big bucks, Buffy's apartment was surprisingly spacious, and cheap, it was rent controlled thank god. With 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and a joined living and dining area, she couldn't believe how lucky she was when she found it. Not wanting to logic her way out of it, she took it as soon as she could.

As she entered her apartment, Buffy couldn't help but think about her friends. They were all as close as ever which she was happy about. Willow, still one of the worlds most powerful Wicca's lived close by, and was now running her own magic shop and learning centre, teaching up and coming witches proper control of their powers, while also making a profit selling anything related to magic, she loved it. Meanwhile, Xander, true to form was sticking with construction. Stick to what you're good at and what Xander was good at was construction, why stop a good thing? Giles was still a watcher and left in charge of the daily operations of the Slayer organisation. All in all everybody seemed to have their lives in order.

As Buffy was contemplating not only her life but also the life of her friends, she was pulled out of her daze by the ringing of her phone. Picking up the phone, she was not surprised to hear who was on the other side of the line.

"Hey big sis!"

A smile swept across her face as she heard the voice of her baby sister "Dawnie! What's up?"

"Nothing much, just missed my big sister"

Sensing that was not everything Dawn wanted Buffy said "Sure, that's all, what's the plan for your summer vacation? The school years nearly over"

"Well actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about. See I was meant to head to New York for the Summer with some friends, and to do my internship with the Met, and you know live the big city life, but those plans fell through"

Buffy was now pacing back and forth in her living room, listening to Dawn's explanation of why she decided not to go through with her internship when she heard knocking on her door.

"Dawnie, put a hold on what you were just gonna say someone's at the…"

As she opened the door, her baby sister flinging her arms around her throat in a tight hug greeted her.

"What are you doing here?"

"Surprising you, duh!"

"What about New York?"

"New Yorks a no go. Michelle decided to spend summer break with her parents, Holly has a new boyfriend who in her words 'cannot last a whole summer without her' and Sam decided she'd rather take on summer classes so she can graduate early. I didn't want to spend the summer in the big city by myself so I thought I'd come here and see my big sis who I basically haven't seen all year!"

"Wow second choice thanks" Buffy said deadpanned.

"That's not what I meant, I really did miss you, and I thought we could hang out all summer. I mean you get summer vacation off too. We could hang out, go out, shop, go to the beach, would just be like old times"

Dawn didn't want to tell her that there was another reason, for her coming back to LA for the summer. A dark haired, blue eyed someone, but that could wait for later. For now she was happy too see her big sister, who she missed like crazy.

"Well what do you think?"

The more Buffy thought about it, the more she liked the idea of having her sister stay with her for the summer. It would be nice to have someone to come home to. Her sister was away at Brown for most of the year, and with both of their busy schedules they barely had any time to spend more than a few days together.

With a smile across her face Buffy said "Sounds amazing, I've really missed you too. You can stay in the spare room, and we can head out for dinner tonight just me and you"

A smile spread across Dawn's face as she came inside with her bags. This was going to be a summer she would never forget she could just feel it.

Later on that night the Summer's sisters were out on the town, after a somewhat late dinner, they decided they weren't ready to go home just yet and decided to go out dancing. The Spot, as the place was called was no Bronze, but it was new so they thought they would give it a try. Your typical club, it was filled with strobe lights, laser lights and everything in between. The music was good to dance to so they both spent most of their night on the dance floor. Looking the way they did in their little black dresses, the Summer's girls were bound to attract some male attention, but they weren't having any of that tonight. Tonight was just a night between two sisters catching up and having fun. After a few hours on the dance floor they both decided it was time to leave the club.

Buffy not ready to have the night finish just yet, decided a late night snack was in order. She knew of this little café a few blocks away that served all night breakfast and decided to treat Dawn. Walking down the street past an alleyway Buffy's slayer sense started to go haywire.

"Dawn"

"What?" judging by the look on her sister's face, Dawn knew something big and most likely dangerous was near by. "Your, spider sense is tingling isn't it?"

"Yeah, a slayers job is never done, we can't even have one night demon free"

"Hey don't worry about it, wouldn't be like old times unless something with fangs decided to come out and play" Dawn tried to joke.

Buffy laughed "Yeah, stay close ok"

Dawn nodded and slowly began to follow her sister into the alleyway. Not seeing anything Dawn said hopefully "Maybe its not here? Maybe it decided to be a nice demon and not kill us"

"Shhh" Buffy knew it was around here somewhere, she could feel it. Looking around for a possible weapon all she saw was a 2 by 4 and a steel poll, deciding on the later she picked up the poll and began to twirl it around waiting for the demon to make its move. Sensing the demon was about to attack she pushed Dawn away seconds before the demon skewered her with what looked like a makeshift spear made of what Buffy assumed was human bone.

"Ew gross, you know dogs are meant to eat bones not play with them"

"Slayer" the demon hissed

"You got that right" with that she began a series of punches and kicks to get the demon off balance. But he was fast and kept dodging her attacks, this didn't worry her, she wasn't the longest surviving slayer for nothing. When she got a better look at the demon, to say she was disgusted would be an understatement. She had seen a lot of things in her long line of duty as the slayer, but there was always something more ugly or disgusting than the last. The demon looked like a human turned inside out, with a pulsating brain, instead of eyes there were two empty eye sockets with what she thought were maggots coming out, and his stomach looked like there was something trying to claw its way out. '_Probably_ _his last victim'_ Buffy thought to herself.

As the battle drew on, Buffy knew she had to finish this soon. After a sequence of punches, kicks and flips, she managed to kill the demon by stabbing the demon straight through the stomach with the steel pole. Proud of her work, she walked over to Dawn pulling her up.

"Hey you ok?" she asked.

"Me? I'm good, I totally knew he was behind me you know, just wanted to keep you on your toes"

"Right I'm sure getting stabbed was high on your list for things to do this summer" Buffy said as they slowly walked away from the demon. It started to rain slightly so they began to walk a little bit faster

"Hey I need saving, and you save me, its what we do" Dawn said. What neither of them realised was the demon slowly get up and throw its spear towards Dawn before he screeched and collapsed finally dead.

Turning around Buffy would have been to late to stop the spear from hitting its target, if it was for time stopping. Literally. Looking around Buffy and Dawn became confused as they noticed the spear just floating mid air, centimetres away from Dawn's shoulder. Noticing that wasn't all that stopped both Buffy and Dawn looked around noticing the rain drops floating in the air.

"Cool" Dawn said as she began slowly tapping the rain drops one by one.

Buffy was now in full slayer mode, time didn't just stop. Picking up the spear, she walked over to the demon and imbedded it in its head, just to make sure it was dead before starting to investigate.

"Buffy how cool is this"

"Dawn, this is not cool time has stopped, either we're trapped in some bizarro world or something bad is happening"

Buffy tried to find any clue to figure out why time had stopped. There was nothing. Looking around she noticed that the air around them became thicker; the raindrops began to start falling again, only this time in slow motion. Walking over to Dawn, they both looked to the sky as storm clouds began to form. Next thing they knew a huge wave of energy began to form.

"Buffy, what's happening?" Dawn was starting to freak out. Demons, vampires, magic she could handle. But portals, in her experience were never something the like to be associated with.

"I don't know stay close"

The next thing they knew thunder struck the energy formation. The resulting blast threw both sisters into the brick wall.

Getting up, what they weren't expecting was seeing a boy, no older than 16, turn around half naked burned and bruised.

"Oh, shit!" was all he said before collapsing on the ground.

**I know not a lot happened in this chapter, but i thought that you would need to know whats been happening to the Scooby's since the fall of the Hellmouth. I only talked about the core four and Dawn, but you will be getting info on everyone else as the story takes place.**

**Thanks and review**


	3. Chapter 2

**So sorry its taken me so long to update, life gets in the way as you know. Enjoy **

**As always don't own any Buffyverse characters, only original creations.**

**Chapter 2**

_Pain, that's all he remembered. As soon as he entered that portal, it felt as if his entire body was being ripped apart down to a molecular level. His skin not only burned, but froze as well. Time travel always seemed so easy, at least it was in those old cheesy movies and TV shows. It was painful and it nearly killed him. It was black, all around him was darkness, a never-ending void, but there were sounds. Familiar sounds. 'Wake up, open your eyes, wake up!' he kept telling himself. Nothing. It didn't work. 'Maybe ill try again tomorrow'_

* * *

"_Buffy, Is he awake yet?"_

"_Yes… no… I don't know, he's finally moving, that's something right?"_

"_Yeah I think, at least we know he's not like you know dead"_

"_He's breathing of course he's not dead"_

"_Whatever, he looks kinda familiar don't you think?"_

"_A little… Maybe we should take him to the hospital"_

Boom. Liam's eyes opened and he shot up at the first sound of the word hospital. He hated them. Dazed and confused he took in his surroundings. Where was he? Looking down, he noticed his clothes were ripped and burned. At least everything he wanted to keep hidden was covered he thought to himself. Noticing he wasn't alone. He looked up to the two women in the room. One was a very much alive and much younger version of Dawn. Here she was still bright eyed, looking forward to a better tomorrow. A change to the Dawn he knew, one who was hardened and guarded by the chaos that was their life. Looking across the room, his eyes met with the woman who would one day be his mother.

Sighing he said, "How long was I out?"

Dawn got up and handed him a glass of water and replied "Um three days give or take a few hours, I'm Dawn by the way and this is Buffy" indicating to herself and her sister.

'_Shit, shit, shit'_ he thought to himself, three days behind. He had to get out of there.

"Great, well thanks for keeping me all you know safe. But I gotta go"

As he started to get up, Buffy stalled his action.

"Whoa, whoa hold up. You've been passed out for the last three days. When we found you, you came out of a portal, bleeding, bruised and burned. Now it looks like none of that even happened to you. You owe us an explanation"

Trying to find away around her, Buffy kept blocking his path. He really couldn't handle this right now. He had things he needed to do, and none of which included getting his family involved. Knowing he couldn't tell her the truth, Liam figured playing dumb would be the best way to go.

"Look I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I'm a fast healer. I'm sure my family is probably wondering where I am, so thankyou but I need to go!"

"You expect me to believe that? That you somehow came out of an energy portal and have no idea how you got there?"

"It's all I got for ya blondie, now move out of my way"

There was something about him that just made Buffy want to make sure he was safe. But then there was this other part of her that wanted to kick this kid a new one. His flippant, sarcastic attitude was really starting to get to her.

"No!" she stood her ground, not expecting what was going to happen next.

"I didn't want to do this" Liam stated. In one swift movement he flipped Buffy over his shoulders onto her back and quickly made his way out the door.

Dawn quickly ran over to her sister, more so out of habit, than actual fear if she was hurt. She knew how tough her sister was, and they both were shocked that someone could get the one up on Buffy herself.

"What just happened?" asked Dawn

"I don't know but something is up. Time doesn't just stop, portals don't just open, and kids don't just magically heal, unless their of the superhuman variety. We need to find out what that portal was and who that kid is" stated Buffy as she got up

"I think its time we call Giles"

* * *

Liam didn't really know what compelled him to act the way he did. He was finally face to face with the woman who would one day be his mother, and all he felt was fear. Fear that him being back could would hurt her in ways he couldn't imagine. Fear that if she knew who he really was, he would have to answer questions and relive moments he didn't want to. As long as he kept distance between them, everything would be fine. At least that's what he kept telling himself.

He kept telling himself that he came back with a mission, not to build relationships with people who didn't know who he was considering he technically didn't even exist yet. Looking at himself he figured that he'd stick out like a sore thumb unless he got some new clothes quick. And having no actual money in this time period, it left him with only one option, to start using his five-finger discount. As the sun was setting, he set out with a smile on his face, because he knew that tonight, for the first time in a long time he would actually be able to not worry about someone trying to kill or maim him in his sleep.

* * *

Across the Atlantic, the former Sunnydale High librarian was having a problem of his own. Running the worldwide operations of an underground operation dedicated to the survival of mankind was never going to be easy. He understood that casualties were to be had, that was one thing that was never going to change with the slayer line. And with the drastic increase in Slayers over the years, those numbers were due to increase. But what he couldn't understand was how the death count had increased so substantially over the past few months. At first he just thought it was part of the jobs hazards, but as the numbers kept increasing, he began to take notice, and started his own investigation, but what frustrated him the most was that he was getting nowhere. No leads, no suspects. All that he had to go on was that all the girls' bodies were drained of blood, but there were no traces of vampiric activity that would point him in that direction. Taking a deep sigh he was shaken out of his thoughts by the ringing of his desk phone.

"_Giles?"_

"Yes, Buffy, hello to you"

_"Sorry, hi."_

"What do I owe the pleasure?"

"_Well, what do you know about portals?"_

"Portals?"

_"Specifically, portals that stop time and spit out 16 year old boys."_

"Stopped time you say"

_"Yeah, it was raining, Dawn's about to get skewered and next thing you know raindrops are floaty mid air and Dawn was about a second away from being shish kebabed"_

"Was there any other disturbances or was the temporal stop the only sign?"

"_Umm, now that you mention it the air got really thick and well there were these storm clouds, but they were only forming around our area"_

"The events your are describing would suggest the opening of a temporal flux portal"

"_A whata?"  
_

Taking a deep sigh. Giles began to absentmindedly clean his glasses. An action he would normally do to release any pent up frustration he would have at that moment in time.

"_Giles!"_

"Sorry as I was saying, what you described would have to be the opening of a time portal, and since you said someone came out of it, it would suggest that, that individual has come to our time from a future time period"

On the other side of the phone line Giles was greeted with silence, Giles knew even across the ocean when his slayer was distressed.

"Buffy?"

"_Sorry, its just I've seen a lot of things that would make people question the world you know? And it's never fazed me before, but time travel. It gives me the wiggins Giles, there are some things that shouldn't be messed with. What am I supposed to do?"_

"Honestly I don't know. Time travel isn't well documented but from what I understand majority of attempts are fatal and any successful attempts are unheard of. So if he's here and he survived, that means he's here for a reason. I suggest for now to keep your distance, its highly likely you will cross paths again. And when you do just offer what assistance you can. And if you need me I'll just be a phone call away"

"_Thankyou Giles. I missed this, you know, we don't talk enough"_

Smiling Giles replied "It's what I'm here for. As do I. I'll make sure to keep contact more often"

"_Bye Giles"_

"Goodbye Buffy, and take care"

With the click of the phone the lines were disconnected. Hearing about Buffy's little time traveller worried Giles more than he was letting on. First with the slayers and now with this, something was coming and he knew it. But until something more concrete was uncovered, he was determined to keep everyone's lives as normal as possible until he was certain what they were facing. Looking over at the time and realising it was late he decided a nightcap was in order. His problems would still be there in the morning.

* * *

Liam was amazed at the world before him. It was a complete contrast to the Los Angeles he knew. The grass was greener; the sun shined brighter and there was an air of tranquillity among the city chaos. He came back with a mission, to save his future, he knew that much. But that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the perks the present had to offer. He had a long road ahead of him, but he knew he could do it if this was what he was fighting for.

Taking refuge in an abandoned warehouse, close to the action of the city, Liam began to plot out his objectives. He knew he only had a limited amount of time to accomplish what was needed and he already lost three days coming out of the time portal. First thing he needed to do what search through the old Wolfram &amp; Hart offices. While they no longer had a strong foothold in this dimension, due to being beaten back by Angel and his team, Liam understood that they still had connections in this world and the only way he would be able to find them would be to go into the offices.

Picking up his broadsword he managed to take by killing a demon he made his way across town. What was once a majestic office, now stood in ruins. Windows were broken, the main sign now read ram fart, and the doors were just hanging on by their hinges. _'That's what you get for trying to destroy the world' _he thought to himself.

Looking around Liam made his way towards the records room. In the future he made sure he memorised the layout of the building, specifically for this reason, to make sure he knew what each room held, for when he finally had to step foot in the building. When he made it to the room, he wasn't expecting endless rows of filing cabinets. '_I thought everything here was supposed to be digital' _

"If I were a list of Wolfram and Harts most influential affiliates where would I be?" Liam spoke aloud, not to anyone in particular but more to reassure him that he wasn't creeped out by the fact he was alone in a building that was once the centre of anything illegal and corrupt within the Los Angeles area.

After what felt like hours, he finally found what he was looking for in a file marked: Plan B – confidential. '_Not the most well hidden or creative bunch are they'__  
_

Pleased with his success he began to make his way out of the building when a little girl stopped him. She was cute in a Wednesday Addams sort of way and he would have thought she was just a regular kid if it wasn't for the pure black voids staring right at him

"That's not yours," she indicated to the file in his hands

"What makes you say that?"

Tilting her head, she began to circle Liam. He was starting to get freaked out, this girl had the whole bride of Chuckie thing going on, and he didn't want to stay to find out how loose her screws were tied on.

"I was told to watch everything in this building, for the partners eventual return. That file is theirs" she stated in an almost robotic tone

'_Definitely not human' _Liam thought, he tucked the files behind his jeans and braced in a fighting position. The way this girl was talking made him think he wasn't getting out of this building without a fight.

"Look I don't want to hurt you, I mean you're a little girl. A freaky little girl, but still you get what I mean. Why don't you just get out of my way?"

She stood motionless staring directly at him. "It is my objective to maintain order within this building"

Looking around at the dump that was the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram &amp; Hart, Liam began to laugh "Sorry to point this out to you but you aint doing a great job".

As Liam began to make his way to the exit, the demon girl screamed and jumped him, she was fast and strong and it was going take a lot more than what he was expecting to take this girl out.

A fight broke out between the time displaced warrior and demon guard for the senior partners. This was something Liam would never forget, being in an all out brawl with what looked like a 10-year-old girl.

She was fast circling Liam, and timing her hits with precision. Aiming any body part she could hit aiming specifically for his stomach, eyes and groin. This girl was not giving up. She kept Liam on the defensive. Resulting in him dropping his sword as he was blocking her attacks.

Enjoying the little spectacle the girl was trying to put on, Liam began his counter attack. He began punching the girl back looking for an opening to create some distance between them. After what seemed like hours, but was only minutes Liam found his opening and the girl tried to kick his stomach. Using some speed and agility, he grabbed onto her and threw her across the room.

Crashing into the wall the girl was soon up again, brushing off the dirt and dust from her dress "You're not nice, you hit girls"

"I don't know what you are but you sure aint a little girl"

She began to run towards him, not wanting to keep this fight going any longer than it already had to he picked up his sword and threw it across the room aiming for her head. She dodged his incoming assault, jumped off the flying projectile in the air aiming another kick to his face. Liam managed to dodge her attack, grabbed her foot, threw her to the ground and stabbed her in the chest with a hidden dagger he kept on a leg holster hidden under his jeans.

"Like the file says, gotta have a plan B right" Liam said as he watched the life drain from the demons body.

Before she died the demon girl spoke "You will not see them for they are hidden in shadows, they come from a place where no light penetrates, they will dance on your grave". As the demon died gone was its disguise of a young girl and in its place layed a full-grown demon as dark as the night sky.

Not taking to heart what the demon said, Liam picked up his sword and made his way from the building. As far as he was concerned the first part of his mission was a success.

**TBC  
****Hope you all enjoyed. I promise ill try and update more frequently. **

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	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Liam was ecstatic, beating the demon and walking away with the file left him in good spirits. This file was the first step in taking down Wolfram and Hart once and for all, and saving his future. As he was walking the lone streets back to his so called 'home', the first rays of sunshine were making waves across L.A, signalling a new day about to begin. Despite his body screaming for a momentary reprieve to recharge his batteries, Liam knew that time was of the essence. '_I'll rest when this is all over'_. Walking up into the warehouse, Liam began the long arduous task of going through the files.

At first glance the files depicted fairly regular contingency plans that Wolfram and Hart could implement under any financial, political or economic problems that could be detrimental to the bottom line of the corporation. But Liam knew that these 'contingency plans' as they were called were a front for their more sinister operations in implementing their hell on Earth. Minutes ticked into hours and as Liam was looking through the never ending papers that seemed to be materialising from the file. The deeper he dug the more complicated everything seemed to be.

A lot of the information provided was a bunch of fluff to deter any unwanted eyes. However as he began digging deeper he began noticing mentions of smaller subsidiary companies and organisations that were all unrelated to each other sharing only one similarity being their ties to Wolfram and Hart. Seeing this as his first silver lining after hours of reading through pointless crap and began making a list of each subsidiary, their location and the type of business they performed. Feeling his eyes beginning to drop, Liam decided that it was probably time to get some sleep. He would be able to track down each subsidiary later, when he was at his full strength. Walking over to what he would call his bed; which was just a mattress on the floor with a blanket, he shut his eyes and let the darkness claim him in a calm surrender.

* * *

With the last week of the school year upon her Buffy was expecting it to quickly and smoothly. Her sister was home for the Summer and she couldn't wait to get some much-needed R &amp; R.

Today however wasn't Buffy's day. She came into work late, spilled coffee all over her new top and spent her first period listening to Stacey, the principals highly underqualified secretary, drabble on about how her new boyfriend of the week was going to be her future husband and how great he was in the sack while dodging questions about her own lack of a love life.

Stacey while a nice girl would be what you would call a bimbo. With platinum dyed blonde hair and a tan that just smelt like it was out of a bottle, it was clear to Buffy that this girl really only had two things on her mind: Her looks and her boyfriend. Buffy suspected the only reason she was hired was because her father was golfing buddies with the principal and she tended to wear tops two sizes to small that always seemed to show off an ample amount of her cleavage.

As the bell signalling the second period to begin, Buffy was glad that she had a student appointment that allowed her to politely push Stacey out of her office. Taking a calming breath Buffy sat behind her desk and quickly motioned the student into her room. Lily was a nice girl, with shoulder length blonde hair, that wasn't out of a bottle Buffy thought, and bright brown eyes, Buffy thought she was going to be quite a looker when she grew out of that awkward phase that seemed to plague every high school student at some point. From what Buffy could tell, while she wasn't the most popular girl in school, she was far from a nerd or loser and was in no way at the bottom of the social scene. So what surprised Buffy the most was why she was in her office. Most of the students that made appointments with her tended to be kids on the opposite ends of the social spectrum. The popular kids facing some form of new trivial drama every week or an existential crisis regarding whether they peaked in high school. Or on the other end the socially inept and awkward coming to her for help to improve their social standing or dealing with bullies and so forth. So to have a girl who didn't fall into any of these categories was a breath of fresh air for Buffy and she hoped she could finally help someone whose problems didn't involve any of the later.

Smiling at the girl Buffy began their session. "So Lily, what bring you here?"

Looking around nervously, and not really knowing where to start Lily just replied "Everything, we say here stays between us right? Like I'm not going to be walking out of here with the whole school knowing my life's story?"

Giving a small chuckle, Buffy shook her head and said "Don't worry everything you say here, stays between us. I'm here to help you with whatever you need. Whether its good or bad."

Feeling a wave of relief wash over her Lily began to tell Buffy why she was here. "Well its not a bad thing, at least I don't think it is. It's just that well I've been seeing this guy for a while now and well… have you ever been in love?"

"Excuse me?" her question took Buffy by surprise, just because students never asked these types of questions.

Feeling slightly discomforted Lily continued, "You see with this guy, he's like a year older than me, and I dunno, I've never felt like this you know. I mean I always thought those types of girls who fell madly in love with their first boyfriend who ended up being their soul mate was something only movies were made of you know? And I never thought it would happen to me. But with him I don't know he get's me you know. And I think I'm in love with him but… I just don't know. I don't want to tell him and scare him off. And its just all these emotions are scary and weird and I don't know how to deal. And this isn't about sex or anything like that, because he's never pressured me or anything, and I'm not ready. I just… do you know what I'm getting at?"

Surprised by her candidacy, Buffy took a moment to let her words sink in '_types of girls who fell madly in love with their first boyfriend who ended up being their soul mate was something only movies were made of you know' _kept replaying over in her head, and gave her memories and a certain dark haired vampire who she hadn't seen in over 3 years. '_Nope not going there, not gonna open up those can of worms'_ she thought to herself. Looking at Lily's expecting stare. Buffy took a breath and just gave her the only reply she could.

"Yes, I have been in love and I do get what you mean. And everything you just explained is exactly how I felt the first time I realised those emotions I were feeling. Don't be scared of them; if it feels right just tell him. And if he feels the same way he'll tell you back. Don't be scared of love embrace it, because it's a great feeling. But also know that the people you love, can hurt you the most. Love is a rollercoaster, and its one of the best rides you will ever go on, if its with the right person. And with the sex thing, its good that you're waiting never let anyone pressure you into doing something that you're not ready for. When you're ready you'll know. So I guess what I'm trying to say is just tell him how you feel. Otherwise you'll go crazy overthinking everything and you might do something you regret".

Lily was not only surprised with how accurate Buffy's reply was, but by how honest she was with her. Looking carefully at Buffy, she could see some underlying pain behind her eyes that she tried to mask with a smile. She guessed her question hit home than harder than Buffy was expecting. Keeping her mouth shut, she silently took in Buffy's advice and decided to act upon them. She was glad she came to see her, if she went to any of her friends or parents she probably would have gotten some awkward responses that would have been no help to her whatsoever. Smiling at Buffy, Lily quickly thanked Buffy for her help and made her way out of the room.

As Lily left the room, Buffy sat silently contemplating the memories and emotions the girl made her remember. Was she ever in love? The answer was a definite yes. Pushing those thoughts aside Buffy quickly let in her next appointment and let the next student take priority.

* * *

Buffy was still slightly uneasy with the conversation Lily had brought up. With her lunch hour finally approaching Buffy slowly made her way into the teachers lounge and in no mood to have to deal with Stacey who quickly spotted her and was beginning to make her way over to Buffy.

With dread upon her face, Buffy was quickly pulled aside by one of the History teachers, Thomas Deen. Thankful for the slight reprieve from dealing with Stacey's drama, Buffy smiled at the young teacher. He was cute in an anyone with eyes way. With short sandy brown hair, nice tan and bright blue eyes, Buffy understood why the female student body had nicknamed him history of hotness.

"Sorry about pulling you over here like that. Its just that I saw Stacey making her way over to you. And well we all know how great it is having to listen to her new weekly soap opera of a life, and I just though you might like a bit of an advertisement break"

Smiling at his attempt at a joke, Buffy replied with a slight chuckle "Thanks, she's not that bad, but you know there's only so much a person can take"

"True, so I've seen you around before, and I've never really had the courage to come and talk to you, I mean you're really pretty. So I thought now would be as good a time as any"

Taken back by his words, Buffy remained stunned and silent.

Realising, how desperate he was coming off, Thomas realised he needed to save his sinking ship "I mean not that I only want to talk to you because you're pretty, I mean you're probably smart and funny too. And you obviously already have a boyfriend and wow am I rambling. I am usually much better at talking to the opposite sex than what I am right now"

Smiling at his attempts to flirt/get to know her Buffy decided to throw him a bone. "Its cute, I ramble a bit too when I'm nervous. And I've noticed you too just so you know. And nada on the boyfriend department, haven't really been interested lately"

In the background Stacey was watching and listening with such intensity it almost looked like her eyes were about to fall out of her sockets. While she might not have known Buffy or been at the school long, it was clear to her that the young woman was clearly lacking in the male attention department. And with the faculties tendency to gossip, she had come to learn through the grapevine, that Buffy had been single for the better part 2 years. And that was not ok in her books.

Thomas' face fell, taking in what she just said, and putting a damper on his plans to ask her out. He was about to excuse himself when the high pitched voice of Stacey cut off his train of thought.

"She's just kidding, she's noticed you a lot"

Shocked at Stacey's abruptness, Buffy tried to cut her off, but was swiftly pushed aside by the more tactless secretary.

"Anyways me and my squeeze tonight have two extra tickets to see Robyn tonight at the Spot, so you two should come, we're gonna get dinner before the show around 7. So you guys in?"

Taking in both of their silence and stunned faces as a confirmation to her invitation, Stacey screamed in delight.

"Coolness, here's the details" she quickly scribbled down the address where they would meet for dinner and handed it to them both. "I shall see you both at this address at 7 sharp, dress pretty! Bye see you later tonight!" and with a wink of her eye, she left them both still to shocked to react to what just happened.

After a long pause Thomas turned to Buffy.

"What just happened?" they both said in unison.

Laughing at what just transpired, Buffy replied "I think she just set us up on a date"

"Well she got to you first, I was going to ask you"

Feeling slightly uncomfortable at what had just happened, Buffy decided to flee the scene as quickly as possible. "So looks like I'll be seeing you tonight, um, I've got to go, lunch is nearly over and I've got a few appointments left for the day." Quickly making her exit, Buffy ran to the sweet solitude of her office.

* * *

It was mid afternoon when Liam awoke to the sound of a car alarm blazing through his broken window. Looking over the scattered files thrown across the floor Liam knew he wouldn't get anywhere today in taking down Wolfram and Hart, he still had too many files to go through as well as the usb drive he found attached to the folder.

His mind was racing, going through every factor he would need to take into account when he really began his war against the law firm. The information he would need to acquire, the demons he would need to kill, the weapons to use in his arsenal. His train of thought was stopped when the grumbling, indicating his hunger brought him to the present. Realising his lack of any real sustenance, Liam decided it would be best to get some food before you went hunting tonight. Today may not be the day he began his crusade, but hinting was in his blood, any demon he killed tonight meant an innocent got to live.

* * *

To say Buffy was nervous would have been an understatement. The last time she went on a date, if she could even call it that, was with Principal Wood. And that ended more or less before it began, it wasn't even really a date more of a 'hey I'm a slayers son, let me help in your war'. This as far as she was concerned an actual date. Yes this was technically an unwanted date set up by, I guess she would call her a friend, but it was still a date nonetheless. A double date if she was to be honest. And while she was not on the market for anything serious, she also knew getting out with some new people couldn't hurt. So as soon as she came home and told Dawn what was happening, they spent the better part of 3 hours looking for the perfect outfit and getting Buffy beautified for a night on the town.

As 7 o'clock came Buffy was waiting outside of the address Stacey told her to be for their 'date'. She was wearing a cream coloured top with a leather jacked paired together with pants and boots, that gave off a nice casual appeal suitable for a first date. The restaurant was a quaint little Mexican place, decorated with traditional Mexican colours. A little after 7 the rest of the group arrived, Stacey, dressed to the nines in a little black dress with loud gold jewellery adorning her wrists and neck with her boyfriend of the week. He was someone Buffy expected her to be with; he was tall, tanned and buff. It looked like the only type of work this dude did was in the gym. Thomas however looked very handsome dressed causally in a nice dark blue dress shirt and nice pants.

The group of four was seated on the outside patio looking out the streets. It was a quiet night with soft music playing in the background that just added to the ambience of the night. As they ordered drinks and food Buffy got the strange feeling she was being watched. Looking around she found nothing and decided to ignore the nagging feeling in the back of her head that someone or something was out there looking at her.

* * *

Liam managed to scrounge a piece of fruit and some breadsticks left for patrons of random restaurants to sustain himself for the time being. And while it wasn't his first choice in terms of a meal, with no form of money to get him by that would just have to do. The night was still young, so he knew any vampires and demons would have no luck in finding any victims until the night offered more cover to hide their nefarious activities. Taking this short reprieve to explore the city Liam did just that. Each turn led him to a new location that just blew his mind away. Where he came from all he had to look forward to was destruction. Buildings that were once grand were reduced to rubble, homes that housed history became dust in the wind.

As he made his was through the streets he heard the sound of her voice. The voice of her mother, as he scanned the location he found her in the distance with a group of people he had never seen before. From the looks of it, it seemed like she was on a date. And he didn't like it. He was well aware of his mothers dating history as well as his fathers. He knew that coming back to this time, his parents would be far from being together, but hearing it and seeing it are two completely different things. Looking for a better vantage point to see, Liam made his way up a buildings fire escape located right next to the restaurant, to get a better perspective of this 'date'. The thought of it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Making sure to stay in the shadows, Liam found a spot that gave him a clear view of what his future mother was up to.

He could tell she was uncomfortable. Her shoulders we're tense and every time she smiled it failed to reach her eyes. But as time went on he could see her start to relax. And the man he assumed to be her date, slowly made his was closer to her and always tried to find a way to touch or graze her with his hands. This made him feel not only awkward, on the fact he was intruding on a private moment, but also angry that this 'boy' in his eyes was trying to make the moves on his mother. Staying silent, he continued to watch the scene unfold before him.

As the dinner went on Buffy found herself getting more and more comfortable. Topics of conversation ranging from family, music and politics were some of the few areas of conversation talked throughout the table. Buffy was pleasantly surprised at Stacey's date Jeff, being more than just a gym junkie, turns out he was in his last year studying both corporate law and business management. Thomas was a complete gentlemen and she found herself liking him more and more as the night went on. It didn't escape her notice that as the dinner went on he kept finding ways to touch her whether it was moving some of her hair out of her face, playing footsies with her or slightly grazing her hand. While normally she would have shied away from such affection so early on, with Thomas she found it as a warm welcome. It had been so long since anyone showed an interest in her, she had forgotten what it was like to feel wanted. And it was safe to say she didn't not like it.

* * *

As the dinner was drawing to a close, Buffy still couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. As she looked around again she could have sworn she saw a shadow move in the distance. Politely excusing herself from the table, giving the excuse she needed to use the ladies room, she quickly made an exit from the restaurant and into the back alley. Looking around for something to throw, she found a garbage bin lid that she could use as a projectile. Closing her eyes and trusting her instincts she threw the lid and hearing the sound of a scream and the sound of crushing body into a bin, she knew she hit her mark.

* * *

As Liam saw Buffy make her way from the table, he knew it was time for him to take his leave. As he was making his way down the fire escape, he failed to notice the blonde in the alleyway throwing a garbage lid in his direction. Hitting him in the back of the head caused him to lose his grip and fall into several bags of garbage.

Slightly disoriented, he slowly made his way onto his feet, unaware of the swift movements of the slayer, causing him to topple onto the floor once again, hands gripped on top of his head by the tiny blonde.

"You wanna tell me why you were watching me?" she asked in a no nonsense tone.

"Me? Watching you? Why would I do that?"

"Stop playing games with me! Why cant I ever get a straight answer from you? I know that you aren't from here, I know that you're here for a reason, why not let me help?"

Struggling and failing to get free from his restraints, Liam realised that whether he liked it or not, the both of them would continue to cross paths. And he also understood that sooner or later he would need to go to her for help, but today wasn't that day.

Sighing, he did the only thing he could think of to get her off his back.

"Liam"

"What" she asked, taken back by his response.

"I didn't give you my name last time we met. It's Liam" feeling her hold of him lesson he got up and began to rub his wrists. For such a tiny woman she had a grip like steel.

"Well Liam, are you ok? No offense you kinda look like crap"

"Yeah well that happens when you fall into a pile of rubbish" he said sarcastically.

Holding up her hands she said "Sorry for caring"

"Sorry, look I'm fine, my ego is a bit bruised but other than that I am ok. And by the way I wasn't watching you I was scoping out the area for any demonic activity in the area"

As soon as the words left his lips he knew she knew it was a lie. He wasn't telling her something, he knew that and she knew that. She was going to ask for the truth, but understood that when and if he was ever ready to ask her for help he would.

After a short pause Liam began "Look, sorry to cut this short, but I've got Demons to kill, you know friends to see. I'll see you around"

Before he had the chance to leave Buffy called out to him to stop. Taking pause he looked at her waiting for her response.

"Here take this" she handed him her phone number and some money "If you ever need something call, and the money, well its looks like you kinda need it. Buy yourself something decent to eat, better than those crushed breadsticks hanging out of your front pocket"

Looking down at his supposed late night snack, he took the money and phone number, and gave her a silent thankyou and a nod of his head. He was never one to ask for charity, but he also knew when to take help when help was offered. Walking away he realised that maybe he had a chance to stop what was coming after all.

Making her way back to the table, after the bill was paid. The foursome made their way to the club for the rest of the night. It made Buffy feel normal, and after everything she'd been through normal was a welcome relief. Only what she didn't know what that it was only a short reprieve for what was coming would throw a spanner into the works changing her life forever.

* * *

It was past midnight, at Sacred Heart Hospital. The night crew were milling about finishing paperwork and making sure patients weren't wondering around the hospital. One nurse was slightly dosing off behind her desk when she heard a noise and saw a shadow coming in from the coma ward. Going in she found nothing out of place, each patients was locked away waiting the time for a key to unlock him or her from their slumbered prison. As she went back to do her rounds she failed to notice a human step out of hiding from the shadows.

Liam knew who he was looking for, from his memories of his 'Uncle' he was in a coma ever since the last demon was banished back since the fall of Los Angeles. Looking at each bed, he stopped when he finally found the man he was looking for. Opening up his file he found his name in bold 'Charles Gunn'. A small smile crept across his lips. He knew he shouldn't be here, he knew the dangers of waking someone up too early from a coma. But he also knew that the person he wanted to be here would only come when one of the last surviving members of his team was awake.

"Its your lucky day, you get to wake up 2 years early" he whispered, making his way next to the comatose patient, Liam began rubbing his hands building up the energy required to perform the awakening. The air around him began to crackle with magicks as he began the spell; the amount of concentration required of him to be successful was paramount. Any distraction could prove fatal not only to himself but to Gunn as well.

Closing his eyes Liam repeated the chant "ex somno excitare" (Awaken from slumber). As the energy began to build up he placed his hands atop of guns head and a surge of energy burst through him. His eyes opened revealing shining orbs of white light.

Within Gunn's head barriers and walls began to crumble. What was once just a dark hole of abyss became filled with light. Chains limiting his movement began to fall. The sweet release he had been craving for so long was finally within his reach.

With a smile on his face Liam quietly left the hospital before Gunn or anyone else noticed he was there.

The fun was just about to begin.


End file.
